Prince of Ice
by kakagurl
Summary: Life isn't fair, especially when you're told that you have to go back to the Academy. How will Hitsugaya cope with obsessed fangirls, a girl he might like more than Hinamori, and his fukutaicho? What happens when he learns that he's allergic to watermelon
1. Perface

**A/N: This is just some background. I have absolutely no idea if Hitsugaya went to the Shinigami Academy (or if it's even called the Shinigami Academy) or not, so I'm just changing everything to suit my purposes. If it really bothers you, leave a review with suggestions as to how I can change it so that it isn't screwed up. Also, please excuse in spelling errors when it comes to character names.**

**Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo.**

**Preface**

One warm spring evening found Hitsugaya Toushiro, otherwise known as Shiro-chan, and his fukutaicho in the Squad Ten office, Morimoto Rangiku guzzling sake as her white-haired captain sat, consuming more candy than was physically possible for someone of his stature. Why were they drowning their sorrow in sake and candy? They were going back to the Academy.

It had happened something like this:

**First Captain: **It seems that you, captains and lieutenants alike, have forgotten the basics. I will give you two years to prove to me that you remember everything that you have been taught at the academy. If you fail to impress me, than you shall all be going back to the Academy. I want no back talk. I am not changing my mind. You are dismissed.

**All Taichos and Fukutaichos except Hitsugaya: **Nooooooo!!!

**Hitsugaya:**Is it really so bad?

**Everyone else, except Nanao, who was determined to stay dignified: **Yes!

**Hitsugaya:**O-okay. Sorry I asked.

**Matsumoto:**Shiro-chan! No! Don't be sad!

**(Rangiku proceeds to hug Hitsugaya, who promptly begins to turn interesting shades of blue and purple.)**

**Yachiru:**Ooh! Pretty colors!

**Hitsugaya:**Mmrff! Airf! Airf!

**Matsumoto:**Aw, you're being a puppy dog! How cute!

**Hitsugaya:**Noff! Airf! Neef Airf!

**Hinamori:**I think he's saying he need's air, Rangiku.

**Matsumoto:**Oh!

**Hitsugaya:**_**MATSUMOTO!!!**_

**Matsumoto:**I… think he's mad…

**Hinamori:**Ya think? Your name was bolded, underlined, capitalized, italicized, and followed by three exclamation marks.

**Matsumoto:**How do you know that?

**Hinamori:**Don't ask, just _run_.

**Matsumoto:**What do you me- AHHHH!

**Hinamori:**I guess… I'll see you later?

**(Giggle from Gin.)**

**Gin:**Highly unlikely.

**First Captain: **What? You're still here? Get out already, you imbeciles!

**(They run for it, causing quite a traffic jam.)**

**First Captain: **Ah, peace…

"How do you think we'll be able to convince him that we're stronger than a bunch of snot-nosed teenagers." Matsumoto said drunkenly, leaning heavily against her much smaller captain.

Hitsugaya pushed her off, startled out of his flashback.

_**Damn… I hate those things.**_

_Hyourinmaru?_

_**Yeah?**_

_What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were vacationing in the Living World!_

_**I came back. Couldn't stand to be apart from you.**_

_Sure._

_**What! You have so little faith in me…**_

_Just shut up. I think Matsumoto is worried for my mental health._

_**I come back to be with you and this is what I get: a bunch of spiteful words thrown in my face! We Soul Slayers have rights, you know!**_

Hitsugaya, tuning out the whining of his katana, listened, instead, to the complaints of his fukutaicho.

"Well, we'll just have to prove that we have mastered the basics." He said grandly. Matsumoto nodded, agreeing whole-heartedly. They were, after all, the twenty-six most powerful shinigami in Soul Society. They could prove that they were better than some naïve, untrained teens.

* * *

They failed horribly.

Hitsugaya sighed, running a hair through his wild, gravity-defying hair, fluffing it up even further. He pouted, blowing at that on lock of hair that was determined to hand down. Two years had passed and nothing had changed with the fighting capabilities of the Thirteen Squads.

Although, Hitsugaya himself had changed. A lot.

His long-awaited growth spurt had finally caught up to him, and he now proudly stood at 5'11" (how he grew nearly two feet in two years shall forever remain a mystery). No more being called 'elf boy', 'you kid', 'midget', 'thumb sucker'… it was amazing, the volumes of self confidence height could inspire. And, he could finally reach the top shelf of his refrigerator. No more needing to ask Rangiku to help him get his iced tea. Oh, no. Now, he could reach it easily. Oh, the wonder…

He sighed and donned those ridiculously puffy blue pants.

_**What a waste of fabric. You could make three pairs of pants out of all that cotton…**_

Hitsugaya just massaged his pounding temples, steeling himself for eight hours of pure torture. He opened the door of his one room apartment, locking it behind him.

_**I don't get the point of locks. I mean, this is a city of Shinigami. They can just cut your door in half and get in that way. And, most Death Gods are accomplished lock picks…**_

Trying to shut out the annoying ice dragon's endless prattle, Hitsugaya continued down the dirt road, feeling extremely self-conscious. _Damn pants…_

_**So, when you gonna get yourself some. Quite a few people have been offering…**_

_Ew! I don't need my sword governing my love life._

_**Sex life. **_He corrected crisply, unaware of his master's discomfort. Or was he?

_Shut up already._

_**Hey, you're hormones need a representative. Be fair to them.**_

"Be quiet!" Hitsugaya frowned, realizing that he had said that out loud. People were giving him strange looks.

_**I have every right to talk!**_

_If you don't put a cork in it, I'll buy a new katana._

_**What! You can't! I'm the most powerful ice/snow/water type Soul Slayer out there! I'm irreplaceable!**_

_Oh, look. I have just enough money to go buy one of the new ice type Soul Slayers in the shop down the road… _Hitsugaya jangled the coins and bills in his pocket, which was really only pocket change. When you're a Captain, you get paid well.

_**Shutting up, master. **_Hyourinmaru said meekly.

_That's more like it._

Hitsugaya sighed and quickened his pace as the Academy came into view. _Best to face it now…_

Let the torture begin.

**A/N: Next chapter will be better. I promise.**


	2. Run, Shiro chan! Fangirls!

**A/N: Hi! Please excuse any spelling errors. Since I don't know for sure the name of the First Captain, he will be referred to as the First Captain, or General. If this bothers you, please leave a review, telling me his name. And, I haven't the foggiest idea as to what the Academy looks like, so I'm making it up. I'm in my own, Bleach-based universe. Also, I changed the rating. It won't be nearly as gory as I thought it would be. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.**

**Dedication: This is for the reviewers of chapter one. Thank you so much!**

**Chapter 1: Run, Shiro-chan! Fangirls!**

Hitsugaya sighed happily. The wind gusted across his face, billowing through his wild white hair. It was wonderfully quiet, the streets empty.

_Ah, peace and quiet, at la-_

"Taicho!!!," Came enthusiastic shriek from farther ahead. Squinting against the sun, Hitsugaya was able to make out a cloud of dust speeding toward him. _Matsumoto…_

"Taicho! I've been looking all over for you!" She squealed happily, grabbing the indignant captain and crushing him to sizeable bosom. She frowned. "You're too tall to hug properly anymore, taicho." She complained, "What happened to you?"

"I grew up." He grumbled, trying to think away the oncoming migraine. It wasn't working.

"Aw, but, to me, you'll always be my little elf-captain!" She crowed, latching on to his arm like a leach.

Hitsugaya did something so unbelievably un-Hitsugaya-like that Rangiku stopped walking and stared. He pouted.

_Ooh, and it's so cute!_ Rangiku squealed in her head. _My taicho really had become some hunk of eye candy._

_**Can't argue with that. **_Her zanpakutou agreed appreciatively.

Hitsugaya turned to frown at his fukutaicho who was staring at him with a strange sense of wonder plastered across her features. His frown deepening, he walked on.

_Ooh! Even his frown his kawaii!_

As he walked, Hitsugaya basked in the newfound silence.

_Ah, at last, I have peace and qui-_

"Shiro-chan!!!"

_Oh, shit._

"Shiro, Shiro, Shiro, Shiro, Shiroooo!!!" Hinamori sang, clinging to his free arm.

"Be QUIET!!!" He snapped. Suddenly, her eyes swam with tears and her lower lip trembled.

"Hinamori…" He murmured, feeling guilt wash over him. Her eyes just got bigger and sadder and her lip shook even more. "I-I'm sorry."

"I-it's okay." She said, her voice shaking slightly. He petted her hair with the hand that she had released. She crooned happily.

_Thank god. One disaster evaded… Why do I even have to go to the academy?_

_**Must I joggle you're memory?**_

_Hyourinmaru, why are you…_

_**Just shut up and surrender to the flashback.**_

_What do you mea-ahhh!_  


* * *

Flashback

* * *

"_Now, you shinigami all have a problem when it comes to obeying orders." The First Captain said. All the taichos and the fukutaichos were crammed into a tiny courtyard. The result was something akin to a can of sardines. _

_Hitsugaya shivered. He hated enclosed and crowded places. It equaled way too much physical contact. Being smashed in between a sickly-sweet-scented Matsumoto and a sour-breathed Zaraki didn't help matters at all. In fact, it made it worse. Matsumoto's wandering hands were constantly creeping down and attempting to get familiar with a part of her captain's anatomy that she had no business getting acquainted to. And, poor Hitsugaya couldn't tell her to stop, simply because Zaraki was practically panting in his ear. So, all Hitsugaya could do was try to subtly elbow her octopus arms away while attempting to listen to the General drone on and on about the importance of listening to one's superiors._

"_So, to test if you can follow orders, when I say jump, you jump. When I say dance, you dance." Twenty-six shinigami stared at their commanding officer, aghast._

"_What the-"_

"_Jump!" All feet stayed firmly planted on the ground._

"_Jump!" The General bellowed, his face turning an unhealthy shade of enraged purple. No one budged._

"_Dance!" His voice was bordering on a shriek. No one moved. Dancing really wasn't in a shinigami's range of expertise._

"_Do it!!!" Hitsugaya was really beginning to worry for his mental health. What shinigami in their right mind would dance? Certainly not he governing body of Soul Society._

_Abruptly, everyone shunpo-ed off, leaving a distraught General in the deserted courtyard, very lonely and very angry  
_

* * *

_The next day dawned sweltering hot. The general called them all to Training Field Three, where they were told to jump through the Ring of Fire! dramatic echo _

"_Hitsugaya, get your but up there and jump through that ring. I command thee!" The General said imperiously._

**Who say's 'thee' anymore?**

Apparently, he does, Hyourinmaru. He's been alive a _long _time.

**Ah… Figures.**

"_Do it, imbecile!" The General shouted._

"_No." Hitsugaya said simply, unaware of the swooning lieutenants and their exclamations of "So cool!"_

"_I will not accept back talk! Take him away!"_

_It was really quite comical as two scrawny Squad Four medics grasped hold of Toushiro's slender arms. The child prodigy could easily break free and pound them to a pulp, but h decided that it was better to not enraged the slightly insane general any more than he already had._

"_No! Air Conditioner- er, I mean, Hitsugaya-taicho! You can't leave me! Let him go!" Rangiku exclaimed._

_A vein made itself at home on Hitsugaya's flawless brow._

"_Yeah, you can't take our air conditioner! We need him!" Someone shouted._

"_Thanks." Hitsugaya said dryly._

"_Who are we gonna stare at for the rest of the summer if we don't have Hitsugaya-taicho?" One of the females spoke up._

"_I'm not an object, you know." Hitsugaya grumbled._

"_Take him away!" The General said, finality ringing in every word._

"_Noooo!!!"_

_Hitsugaya went quietly._

"_Matsumoto! Jump through that hoop!"_

"_No!" She said angrily. "You took away our air conditioner. I refuse." She turned in a whirlwind of strawberry blond hair and stalked off, followed by everyone else._

"_Why, damn it!" Could be heard echoing through the training grounds._

* * *

End Flashback

* * *

_Oh, right. Now I remember. Thanks, Hyourinmaru._

_**It's nice to be appreciated. **_sniff

"Hey, Taicho! Are you excited?" Hinamori chimed from his left.

"…should I be?" He asked in confusion. Hinamori beamed. She found he frown every bit as cute as Rangiku had.

"Yes!" She practically glowed with happiness.

"Why?"

They made their way through the imposing gates when, suddenly…

"Hitsugaya, we love you!"

"You're so hot!"

"Mary me, Shiro-chan!"

"You're perfect! I love you!"

"Will you be my boyfriend?"

"You're so cool!"

"Can I have your autograph?"

Hitsugaya barely had time to blink before he was surrounded on all sides by a mob of red-puffy-pants-clothed fangirls.

"Run, Shiro-chan! Fangirls!" Hinamori shouted from the fringes of the mob.

_Too little too late._

**A/N: This is incredibly short. I just wanted to end it there and make the next a long chapter. So much for my promise of a good chapter… But, the next will be long and filled with a lot of new characters. It might be a bit dull, but necessary. Thank you. Please review. It would make me endlessly happy.**


	3. The Girl with the Sad Smile

**A/N: I'm not sure how shinigami age, so, in this warped and twisted world of Bleach I am creating, they age normally until their late teens. Then, they begin a process called Slow-Aging. Each physical year for their bodies become fifty to two hundred technical years. Hitsugaya has yet to begin this process. Also, not everyone of the first and second officers of the Gotei 13 have been sent back. The ones who are going back are Hitsugaya, Hinamori, Matsumoto, Yachiru, Renji, and Ichigo (the Fifth Captain). They were the only one stubborn enough to refuse to entertain a half senile soutaicho.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, but I named my favorite pillow 'Shiro-chan'.**

**Dedication: This chapter is for everyone who was reviewed this story so far. Thank you so much.**

**Chapter 2: The Girl with the Sad Smile**

Being the captain of the Tenth Squad of the Gotei 13 did have its drawbacks. For one, when you simply walked down the street to go get some sweet bean paste and your monthly supply of thirty watermelons, people dropped to their knees and started doing kowtows and whatnot. When you clocked out and went to go get another package of your favorite, watermelon-adorned boxers, the cashier tried to slip you their number on the receipt. When you indulged you fukutaicho and went out to dinner with her (mostly because it was either that or eat another one of her special dishes that she got from Orihime) everyone stared at you while you and your loud, bouncy fukutaicho ate.

But, when you bought something, you often got a discount because you were _the _Hitsugaya Toushiro, possessor of the biggest fan base in all of Soul Society and child prodigy. But, the drawbacks certainly outweighed the good points in Hitsugaya's book, as he was unfortunately about to find out.

Surrounded by a group of women and girls that looked ready to gang rape him, Hitsugaya was no happy trooper.

_Must handle this in a calm, composed manner._ Hitsugaya repeated again and again like a broken record.

_**In this kind of situation, you really only have two choices.**_

_Must handle this in a calm, composed manner._

_**You can either succumb to their advances…**_

_Must handle this in a calm, composed manner._

…_**or make the first move.**_

_Shut up, Mister Self-Proclaimed 'President of Hitsugaya's Hormones'._

_**Now, I suggest you go for the red-head on the right. I mean, looks at those legs, that-**_

_If you even dare continue that thought…_

_**What? I was going to say super-cute handbag. **_His not-so-skillful save was ruined by the fact that 'super-cute handbags' weren't part of the (hideous) academy uniforms.

_Sure._

_**So cold.**_

Hitsugaya sighed. No way was he taking any of the two options his hormonal zanpakutou had offered him. He had his own plan. Before they could close in and restrict his movements, he quickly preformed a series of rapid-fire flash steps, ending up in a bush half way across campus. In the distance, he could see the disappointed, angry, and confused groans of the mob.

Smashed between a mountain of distinctly yellow snow, a bush with tons of pointy, thorny branches determined to drill through his side, his giant, billowy pants caught in the branches and in no condition to come out unscathed, Hitsugaya had decided that someone up there was definitely out to get him.

_**How could you pass up an opportunity like that? So many women, all at least C-cups…**_

_Shut up or I'll disown you._

_**I'm the one who should be doing the disowning. If you don't do anything, I don't get anything either. C'mon. Indulge you poor little Soul Slayer, huh?**_

_No._

_**What? At least consider!**_

_No._

_**Why not?**_

_My main concern as of now is getting out of this damn bush._

_**Young people these days… Such coarse language.**_

Hitsugaya wriggled his way out of the thorns. _These pants do nothing to keep me warm. Especially when their covered in little holes...  
_

On the other side of campus

"Hey, Megumi… Are you nervous?"

"No." The girl answered shortly. "Why?"

"You've all but beheaded your pen, that's why."

"Oh." Megumi quickly dropped her poor, poor pencil that looked as if someone had set a harvester upon it.

"So what if six officials from the Gotei 13 are coming to the Academy? I mean, sure, on of them is _the _Hitsugaya Toushiro, possibly the hottest guy alive, the other is sweet little Hinamori Momo with her incredible demon magic, Matsumoto Rangiku the drunk is coming, too, along with _the _Kurosaki Ichigo, walking legend and all, and cute little…"

"Yeah, Gi-Gi, you're not helping." Giahana slumped.

"Sorry."

"Whatever."

The thing was, Otakawa Megumi _was _nervous. All these amazing shinigami were coming to go to school in the same place as she was. Her hero was coming to learn in the same class as her. She was here on a scholarship because she couldn't afford to pay for the academy. She had been on her own since the tender age of eight, stealing to support herself. She found sanctuary in a gang of similar children who had also been sent to the seventy-eighth district of the Rukongai.

She was at the academy to learn how to fight and how to protect others. She had nothing to protect but the precious ones of other people. She would protect others so that she would never be the one who needed saving again. Instead, she would be the protector. Just like the one who had saved her before, in the living world. He had had blood red hair like hers. He had been her hero. Renji.

_Flashback_

_It was cold. So cold. The ice… creeping over her body, filling her heart, freezing her fear. Their eyes, so cold, so bleak, so unforgiving… They would not give an inch, nor would they show a hint of mercy. Those masks, bone white in the silver moonlight, so cold and empty, their silent howls that she could not hear ringing in the alleyway, her small fingers grasping along the rough bricks, looking for anything to hold on to, anything to offer her support._

_It's mouth opened wide, a gaping black void of nothing. It lunged forward, teeth almost fastening around her slender neck when it fell limp, crumpling in upon itself as it dematerialized into specks of glittering dust motes, spiraling in a shaft of light. A silhouette stood there, so strong and powerful, robes snapping in the wind. Wide eyes took in his crimson hair, glowing dark pink. He looked like her… family._

_He had gently taken her arm and pulled her from the darkness. His eyes had widened as they saw her hair, like his. Her gold eyes so trusting, so innocent. He took his zanpakutou and pressed it to her forehead. She did not flinch. She trusted him completely, heart, body, and soul._

"_What is your name?" She had asked quietly, hope filling her eyes. He had not shunned her._

"_Renji." He did not know why he told her his name, but those eyes… He could not deny those sad, liquid gold eyes anything._

"_Thank you, Renji…" She had smiled, and, for the first time in a long time, it reached her eyes and filled them with overflowing joy. "Thank you…"_

_And, as she faded into nothing, he felt sadness grip his heart as he realized that he would never see that smile again._

_End Flashback_

"Hey, you with me? Meg? Meg?" Gia said in a singsong voice, waving her hand in front of her spacey friend's lax face.

"W-what?" She asked in confusion, jumping up and cracking her head painfully against Gia's own skull.

"_Ow_." They both said in unison, rubbing their sore heads.

"Hey, Otakawa, is that you?" A male voice intruded. Megumi's gaze snapped up to meet the surprised gray eyes of Hikaru.

"Oh, hey Hikaru." She chirped, dropping her hand to her lap as she struggled to keep from hyperventilating in the presence of her love interest (cough obsession cough).

"Hey, you girls want to walk to class with me?" He offered. On a normal day, the two girls would be on the receiving end of quite a few jealous glares, but, since six officials were coming to school, today was far from normal.

"Sure!" Gia sang out, grabbing her friend and dragging her down the hall.

"This is highly unnecessary!"

"But it's fun!" She showed no signs of surrendering poor Megumi's bruised and battered wrist._  
_

* * *

_Okay, now, the trick is to be sneaky about this…_

_**Dude, you're over thinking it. Just get to class already!**_

_Since when did I give you leave to call me 'dude'? _Hitsugaya sniffed disdainfully as he attempted to creep silently around three rose bushes, a scooter, and one _really_ overweight bull frog.

_**Watch out! Levitating carrot!**_

_What king of lame ass excuse is that, you-_

_**Ha, I told you!**_

_Shit… This hurts…_

Hitsugaya, buried beneath Ichigo who Renji had thrown through approximately four trees, two benches, and a motorcycle, was beginning to wonder why everything terrible always happened to him.

"**Get off me**." Even Ichigo wasn't stupid enough to argue, given the tone Hitsugaya was using.

Toushiro was annoyed, big time. He was tired (even his hair had deflated), beaten, and bruised, having been sat upon, chased, and pestered within an inch of his life. He just wanted to get to class, pass, graduate, and get the hell out of there.

It was getting exceedingly harder to achieve that first goal.

"Hey, do you know how to get to Building Four, Classroom A1?" Ichigo asked a dark-haired girl who had been walking by.

"Oh, that's where my friends and I are headed. Why don't you come with us?" She offered in a chirpy voice. While Gia's attention was averted, Megumi managed to slip her hand out of her small but strong one and massage the life back into her bluish looking fingers. _She sure has some grip for such a skinny girl… I guess it's time to make my escape._

The next moment, Megumi could be found in the trees, swinging along like there was no tomorrow.

"I wish Megumi-chan hadn't run off like that." Gia sighed. "You guys would've loved her."

Hitsugaya nodded, pulling the checkered scarf farther up his nose. Hikaru had lent it to him. It was Megumi's, but apparently it had fallen off when she had made a run for it. It smelled sweet and warm and female. He breathed the scent in.

_**I told you that you were sex-deprived! Here you are, finding heaven in a **_**scarf **_**when you could be with an actual woman. If I were you, I'd-**_

Hitsugaya shut out his annoying zanpakutou, knowing all too well that something perverted would soon follow. He just tried to stop enjoying the smell of the mystery girl who's scarf he was using to protect his identity (although it didn't really do all that much, considering that white-haired, 5'11" shinigami weren't exactly one's ideal of non-descript).

Building Four was giant and styled like a traditional Japanese castle. Sakura trees bloomed on either side of the walkway and snow glistened on the rooftops. Gardens and training fields surrounded the luxurious building and…

…_is that a koi pond?_

_**Yep.**_

"Whoa… This is where we'll be going to school for the next year? Sweet!" Gia sang happily, all but skipping down the cobbled walkway, weaving her way nimbly through the sparse crowd of straggles like them.

Ichigo and Renji, masterminds that they are, decided that it would be a brilliant idea to race each other to class, leaving Toushiro, Yachiru, Rangiku, and Momo to their own devices. Toushiro settled for sinking his hands into his pockets and slouching his way down the pathway while Yachiru, Rangiku, and Momo bounced along ahead.

* * *

The classroom was impeccably neat with rows of tables and straight backed chairs. Megumi was seated, mourning the loss of her cashmere scarf. It had been an expensive gift from Hikaru last Christmas and she had treasured it ever since, but now she had lost it just because she was so painfully shy (and partly because she didn't think her hand could take any more abuse).

She tapped her HB pencil against the desk, staring out into space. Even though she was living the dream, she couldn't find it within herself to feel and ounce of happiness. _My poor, poor scarf._

Then, a glowing Gia burst through the doors. "There you are, Megumi!" She sang out, skipping to her friends side. "Why the_long_ face?"

"I lost my scarf." She said sulkily.

"Oh, right! I leant it to a friend so he wouldn't be chased around by fangirls all day. That's okay, right?"

"That has to be the lamest excuse ever. Fangirls?"

At that moment Hitsugaya meandered through the doors, her checkered scarf still wrapped around the lower portion of his face, revealing just enough that he could walk around without harming himself and others around him.

"Hi, Toushiro!" Gia called, waving him over.

He nodded, regarding her with hooded eyes. Megumi blanched. _God,_the _Hitsugaya Toushiro, Tenth Captain, has my scarf. How am I supposed to get it back without making a fool of myself?! _She thought in panic.

"Oh, yeah!" Gia said cutely. "Megumi-chan was really worried about her scarf, so…" She pouted thoughtfully, exaggerating her expressions to get his attention. "Will you give it to her?"

"Sure." He said with a careless shrug, unwinding it from around his face. Many of the girls watched wide-eyed as the scarf fell away to reveal…

"Hitsugaya!"

"I love you, Toushiro!"

"Marry me, Shiro-chan!"

"Will you be my boyfriend?"

"You're so cool!"

Hitsugaya, deciding that it was best to just go about as if nothing had happened, handed the scarf to the scarlet-haired girl beside Gia.

"Thanks." She mumbled, ducking her head and letting her long hair hide her face.

"Any time." He replied, sliding gracefully into the seat beside Gia's, said girl latching onto his arm. Occasionally, she would turn and babble to her red-haired friend, who would just nod and smile absently.

Hitsugaya's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing that smile. It was sad and deeply lonely, like her empty, bleak eyes. He had seen that face many times, sometimes even when he simply looked in the mirror. He knew that expression well: the face of one who had lost the will to live.

The girls walked in and sat beside Ichigo and Renji on the other side of Hitsugaya. Then, the teacher strode in, standing in the front of the room. She looked very serious. "Now, you guys don't look like you're worthy of being in my class. So, you'll all have to prove yourselves. I doesn't matter to me if you're a captain, a lieutenant or some punk from the country. You're all going to have to gain my respect through hard work and skill."

A kid snorted in the back of the room. "Huh, these officials look like a bunch of pushovers to me." He said. Hitsugaya's eye began twitching. "And, I mean, I've really lost faith in the Gotei 13. If their lame enough to have to come back to the Academy, then shouldn't we be the ones governing them, because, basically, their only as good as us." The twitching was worse. "I mean, one even has bleached hair. Talk about vain." It looked like his eye was having a seizure. Okami was worried for him, because it certainly wasn't natural…

It seemed Hitsugaya had had enough, because he spun around and gave the boy the classic evil eye. He backed down immediately, since the captain looked ready to beat the crap out of him after that jab at his hair. There were exclamations of "So cool!" and "So handsome!" From around the room, and even the thirty-something (physical years) teacher was blushing. Megumi just rolled her eyes._What's so great about him? Sure, he had great hair and gorgeous eyes, but he's just some spoiled rich kid when it comes down to it._

Megumi took her scarf (it had been sitting dejectedly on the table, forgotten, for the past six minutes of twitching, dissing and evil-eye-dishing) and wrapped it around her neck. Frowning, she brought a corner up to her nose and breathed in. It smelled different; the scent that lingered on the cloth was faintly spicy and musky, the scent of sandalwood and male mingling with other warm, delicious, indescribable scents. It smelled amazing. She continued to inhale the incredible aroma until she realized that it was, in fact, Hitsugaya's personal smell. She dropped it like road kill.

The teacher cleared her throat loudly. "Now, I want you all to show me what you can do with you spirit power. We'll go out to Training Range 3. Leave your books here." She whirled purposefully out the door and her students meekly followed. They all wanted to pass, especially Hitsugaya.

She led them through a gaggle of other students who were out to train, getting into a heated argument with another (male) teacher over who had signed up for the training range. Eventually, the other teacher took his students and left, leaving a triumphant Ms. Ugawa to usher her students onto the grass.

"Now, I want to see what you maggots can do."

_**Maggots?**_

_Yes, I do believe she said 'maggots'._

_**I resent being referred to as some slimy creature.**_

_Suck it up, Hyourinmaru._

_**I mean, what does this woman think she is? She is a teacher teaching privileged rich kids, not some lady at boot camp.**_

_Stop ranting, baka._

_**And, I mean, did you **__**see**__** those nails? Horrid. That hair? Does the woman even know what conditioner is? I know that great hair is hiding there somewhere…**_

_You know, sometimes I wonder if you're really a guy, and if you're really the image of my heart and soul, 'cause I'm pretty sure I don't give a damn about hair care products._

_**You really should. With just a bit of tweaking, we'd be able to achieve the same silkiness in your hair that Rangiku had in hers. I mean, at least **__**someone**__** knows how to care for hair.**_

"Hitsugaya! Get you're head out of the clouds and get your pretty boy butt down to this line." Ugawa-sensei barked out, shoving the slender boy towards the line. A lesser man would have stumbled and fell, but Hitsugaya was both too graceful and too prideful to fall (mostly because of the astounding ego of his zanpakutou).

Heaving a sigh, he lifted his arms, murmured a bored incantation, and fired a giant ball of compressed spirit energy at the target, blowing to pieces. There were "ooos" and "ahhhs" from the class, but he ignored them. Megumi wrinkled her nose in disgusted. So what, if the pretty boy could do some demon magic; it wasn't like no one else could do a powerful spell.

Next up was Gia who bounced up to the line and fired off such a tiny little blast that it barely did any damage, and it was way off target. _If she could convert all that energy into spirit power, we'd have a force to be reckoned with._

Then, it was her turn. To be honest, it felt like thousands of butterflies had decided to call her stomach home as they fluttered and flew in her belly, crashing against her insides and making her knees shake slightly. Her breathe came out labored and slightly strained, nervous energy jolting through her system. Unconsciously, she breathed in his delicious scent, still lingering on her scarf, and it calmed her immediately, soothing her thoroughly. She concentrated hard and gathered her energy to her palms, releasing it after muttering the words under her breathe. It blossomed forward in an enormous tangle of scarlet fire and burst against the target, taking out a corner of white wood.

She felt relief fill her, weakening her knees more than the nervous adrenaline from before had. She hadn't made a complete and utter fool out of herself after all. "Nice job!" Gia sang enthusiacstically. Megumi felt strangely light-headed, the world twirling around with dizzying speed as her knees gave out and she fell, her world darkening and narrowing until even that one pinpoint of light winked out.

**A/N: Please leave a happy little review!**


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